Office Secret Santa

• A budget. One number everyone can afford (see the ranges below). Say whether it is a limit (“up to $20”) or a target (“about $20”); a target keeps one person from spending $5 while another spends $40.
• A date. When gifts are exchanged, and whether people bring them wrapped.
• Opt-in only. Ask who wants to take part; never assume. People skip for money, faith or simply preference, and they should not have to explain.
• Gift rules. Nothing that would embarrass someone in front of colleagues, and nothing personal like perfume or clothing sizes. A short wish list helps.

• $10 to $15: a token swap. Good for big or mixed teams, including interns and part-timers. Think snacks, a mug, a plant or a paperback.
• $20 to $25: a comfortable middle. Enough for something chosen with care: a good notebook, a card game, nice coffee or tea.
• $30 and up: small teams only, and only if everyone agreed. The person who finds it too much is usually the one who won’t say so.

Pick from the low end of what people suggest, and ask privately rather than in a group thread. Say whether shipping and wrapping count toward it.

• Fine as a fallback, and often welcome. Say in the announcement that they are allowed, so nobody feels their gift looks lazy next to a wrapped one.
• Choose a store or café the person can use, near the office or online, for the full budget. A general-purpose prepaid card (the kind that works anywhere) can carry a purchase fee that comes out of the budget.
• If the company pays for the gifts, rather than the people taking part, ask HR or payroll first. Gifts from an employer, and gift cards especially, can be treated differently from gifts between colleagues.

Leave it out unless you know the person drinks and your workplace allows it. People skip alcohol for health, faith, pregnancy or recovery, and none of them should have to explain that to a colleague. If wine is on someone's wish list, that's the invitation; otherwise choose something else. A workplace policy on alcohol at work covers gifts brought in, too.

• Nothing about bodies, weight, age or looks, and no joke gifts aimed at the person.
• Nothing religious or political unless it's on their wish list.
• Food is welcome when allergies and diets are known, so ask for them on the wish list.
• Re-gifting is fine if the item is new, unused and something you'd have chosen anyway.
• A name that fits the team. Some prefer "holiday gift swap" or "winter gift exchange" to Secret Santa; the draw works the same.

• Three weeks before: announce it, with the budget, the date and the gift rules, and ask who wants to join.
• Two weeks before: close the list and hold the draw while people are together.
• The week of: a short reminder of the date and the budget.
• On the day: open gifts together, or leave them on desks if the team prefers something quieter.

A gift from a manager to someone who reports to them, or the other way round, can feel awkward either way. Most offices keep them apart. Treat it like keeping couples apart: if a manager and their report draw each other, everyone redraws. Pick Reveal, our app on its way to the App Store, will do this in one step.

Copy it into an email or a team chat, fill in the parts in square brackets, and cut what does not fit your office.

1. Gather the people taking part, at a team meeting or lunch, and open the free Secret Santa draw on one phone.
2. Type the names, tap Shuffle, and pass the phone around the room.
3. Each person opens their own pick privately and hides it before handing the phone on.

Nobody's email is collected, and nobody needs an account.

A one-phone draw needs everyone in the same room. If part of the team is remote, either have the organizer open each remote pick and send it privately (the organizer then knows those picks), or use an email-based draw for the whole team. For a fully remote team, email is the better fit.

It happens every year. The free draw cannot show a pick twice, to keep it secret, so the fix is a new draw. Pick Reveal, our app on its way to the App Store, keeps every pair behind an organizer PIN, so one person can look it up without anyone else seeing, and it can save all the pairs as a PDF if your office keeps a record.

The free draw works in any browser, on any phone. No email, no sign-ups, and the names stay in the tab.

• The free Secret Santa drawDraw names on one phone, in any browser.
• Secret Santa without emailOne room, one phone, nobody types an address.
• Keeping couples apartA fair way to redraw, by hand or with paper.
• Family Secret Santa with kidsOne draw at the table, kids included.